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Solarian League Navy
The Solarian League Navy was the main naval force for the Solarian League. Ships of the SLN used the prefix SLNS. The uniforms of the SLN were white. (SI2) History * 1410 PD - Commonly referred to as the 'Eridani Edict,' Amendment Ninety-Seven of the Solarian League Constitution was adopted. That law was unilaterally enforced by the Solarian League Navy five timesit is even not certain, if the war in the begenning of seventeenth century and the war against the Farley's Crossing System were connected with enforcement of the Eridani Edict. (HH8, infodump) * circa 1600-1620 PD: ** the last war before 1921 PD the Battle Fleet was involved''three hunders years before the First Manticoran-Havenite War''; that war was waged on much smaller area than Manticoran-Havenite war, (HH8, infodump) ** last time before 1921 PD a Solarian warship was destroyed in combatin almost three centuries before the New Tuscany incident; quite contrary to informations concerning battle of Farley's Crossing and the last accident, when a Solarian heavy cruiser was defeated in open battle. (SI2) * circa 1700-1730 PD - The Battle of Farley's Crossing occuredapproximately a little less than two centuries ago before beginning of twentieth century PD. (HH7, infodump) * 1831 PD - The last time before 1921 PD the Battle Fleet deployed anything larger than a squadron outside the borders of the Old Leaguein 1921 PD Task Force 496 was moved to the McIntosh System and than to the Madras Sector. (infodump) * 1862 PD - Captain Josef Byng was officially reprimanded and moved back on promotion lists as a result of harassment of Manticoran shipping and imprisonment Manticoran crews without trial. (SI2) * before circa 1868 PD - Last time before 1918 PD a Solarian heavy cruiser was defeated in open battleif SLN unit - very likely she belonged to the Frontier Fleet; nobody ever beaten four Solarian heavy cruisers at once, with a single vessel of any kind short of a dreadnought. (WS1) * 1921 PD: ** after severe battle the Frontier Fleet Maya Sector Detachment defeated ex-State Security Naval Forces party hired by Manpower, when it tried to invade the Kingdom of Torch, (SI2) ** the New Tuscany incident occured, where the Frontieer Fleet Task Group 3021 was disabled by the RMN Tenth Fleet. (SI2) Organization Its main feature concerning organization was formalised division into the Battle Fleet, and the Frontier Fleet. (SI1, SI2, infodump) Command The superior position within the SLN was its chief of naval operations, assisted probably by the Central Staff. Part of the Central Staff or the Ministry of Defencechief of naval operations acted a Minister of Defence's deputy in fact were the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Office of Operational Analysis. (WS1, SI2) Battle Fleet The Battle Fleet comprised of ships of wall. Vast majority of them were superdreadnoughts, there were some relatively modern dreadnoughts also. The Battle Fleet was senior branch, so its commanding officers were entitled to subjugate the Frontier Fleet units. This led to Battle Fleet having a deep contempt for Frontier Fleet and the Office of Frontier Security.As such, Battle Fleet rarely notified Frontier Fleet of it's operations. Until 1921 PD, it had been over 90 T-years since Battle Fleet had deployed anything larger than a squadron outside the borders of the Old League.In 1921PD, Fleet Admiral Sandra Crandall ran a training exercise in the McIntosh System for Battle Fleet, including Fleet Train, with over a hundred ships of the wall. (SI2) Frontier Fleet The Frontier Fleet comprised of light units, no stronger than battlecruiser. The SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN or the People's Navy, because it was charged with anti-piracy operations and supporting the Solarian Gendarmerie and the Office of Frontier Securityas well as other bureaucratic institutions operating along the fringes of the League (infodump). Reserve Mothballed reserve generalally consisted of superdreadnoughtsthe enormous majority of hullsThere were the majority of Solarian dreadnoughts alsoless modern units, as well as battlecruisers and cruisers. Number of screening elements there was nowhere near what mothballed ships of wall would require in the event of all out hostilities. Thus it were the Frontier Fleet units planned to screen the Battle Fleet. Self Defence Forces The Self Defence Forces of the Solarian League members technically were part of the SLN during the war or state of emergency. The SDFs provided the bulk of the light forces required to prevent outbreaks of piracy in their own areas, and may be tasked by the SLNwith the "owning" government concurrence to extend their activities to neighbouring member systems with no SDFs. Some SDFs were as big as the RMN before king Roger III's development program. There was mentioned Beowulf Self Defence Forcesresponsible of Sigma Draconis terminus of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. (SI2, infodump) Tactical Organization Appeared: * Battle Fleet Task Forces were commanded by Fleet Admirals, * Frontier Fleet Task Group was commanded by AdmiralVice Admiral would be probably enough to command three Rear Admirals, * Frontier Fleet Battlecruiser Squadrons were commanded by Rear Admirals, * Frontier Fleet Sector Detachments probably were commanded by officers in rank of CommodoreCO officer in rank of Captain or Rear Admiral was possible also (WS1). Appeared independent tactical units: * Battle Fleet Task Force 496 * Battle Fleet Task Force 891 * Frontier Fleet Task Group 3021 * Madras Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet * Maya Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet Strenght The SLN consisted of: * c.a. 1600 ships of wall in active commission in the Battle Fleet with tonnage substantially bigger than 6.4 bln tonnesaccording to lower bracket for DN, * c.a. 3000-5000 ships of wall in the reservetwo or three times more than in active duty, the vast majority of Battle Fleet's wall of battle was mothballed in vacuum and completely depressurized, ships which were in commission were refitted in a regular maintenance cycle, * more than 6400the SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN or the People's Navy; according to 1904 PD figures - 81% of the RMN vessels were light ships, the same ratio in the PN was 65% (HH3); it makes c.a. four times more than 1600 Solarian ships of wall light ships in active commission, the tonnage of the Frontier Fleet was substantially biger than 2.3 bln tonnestonnage of the Royal Manticoran Navy in 1904 PD (HH3). (HH3, HH7, SI2, infodump) Duties Main security duties of the SLN in the beginning of twentienth century PD were commerce protection, border security, anti-piracy actions and colonial pacification. In twenty century PD all of that tasks were performed very likely by light units of the Frontier Fleet. (WS1, SI1, SI2, infodump) See also: the Office of Frontier Security Policies * The SLN had no equivalent of the RMN's policy of switching out senior officers to make sure their experience remains current. The senior officers of the SLN were almost all well over a century old, with habits of thought and views of what makes an effective military ship/fleet that were formed when they were in their thirties and forties (and which were formed in the institutional bosom of a fleet which hasn't been to war in centuries). (infodump) * All SLN Battle Fleet procurement decisions were made through the demands of three hundred years old doctrine, not the possibilities offered by new tech which had not yet been fitted into existing doctrineeg. the SLN didn't used as strong and long range missiles like ones at missile pods provided Monican Navy by Technodyne (SI2). (infodump) Fleet 2000 programme The Fleet 2000 programme was an initiative which involved limited modernization of the SLN connected with strong PR action. The idea was conceived by Battle Fleet (and later found support in Frontier Fleet) in response to the Haven-Manticore wars. Fleet 2000 was essentially a PR campaign to ensure that the public would demand more funding for the League Navy, over other bureaucratic entities. Units used by the Frontier Fleet were normally kept much more rigorously updated with refits than ships of the wall and battlecruisers attached to the Central Reserve or Battle Fleet. Frontier Fleet, afraid that all the new funding would go to Battle FleetWith films such as "Our Fighting Navy" and "The Men and Women of the Fleet", engaged in it's own PR campaign.With films such as "On the Frontiers of Freedom" and "First to Respond" On the other hand the Battle Fleet ships of wall under Fleet 2000 programme were more modern than the Frontier Fleet battlecruisersprobably even of Nevada-class. In reality, the majority of the changes were purely cosmetic, making most new bridge designs look like something out of an HD flick.Although the newer consoles did provide more information and control. Ships were also designed to accommodate "future" enhancements, and so were built on a modular concepteg. ''Nevada''-class battlecruisers. (SI1, SI2, infodump) Marines It is not certain if the Solarian Marines Corps was a part of the SLN or was subjugated to the SLN, however recruitment to the the SLN and to the SMC was performed by the SLN recruiting officersso far appeared a company of the 887th Solarian Marines Regiment within the Maya Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet (WS1). Ship types and classes * ''Rampart''-class destroyers (SI2) * ''War Harvest''-class large destroyers (WS1) * ''Liberty''-class light cruisers (Jayne's) * class of modern light cruisersat least a company of marine complement (WS1) * ''Mikasa''-class heavy cruisers (SI2) * ''Gladiator''-class heavy cruisers (HHA4, WS1) * ''Indefatigable''-class battlecruisers (SI1, SI2) * ''Nevada''-class battlecruisers (SI1, SI2) * dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughtsin the reserve - the old and manpower-intensive designs Solarian platforms served in other navies also, eg. ships of wall in the Erewhon Navy, light cruisers in the People's Navy, battlecruisers and probably other types in the Monican Navy as well as very likely in the Mesan Space Navylight ships appeared in the Verdant Vista System (WS1). Human Resorces * a hundred years old admirals Problems * corrupted procurement * cronyism - First Families of Battle Fleet External Links * David Weber's comments on infodump: ** the Battle of Farley's Crossing ** artificial divisions within the SLN ** effect of tight budgets ** what were the Solarian League Navy financial resources ** how is the Solarian League Navy organized ** status of the Solarian League Navy ** fighting the massive waves of the SLN * [http://stormfromtheshadows.com/art.htm Nevada-class battlecruiser scheme] References Category:Solarian League Navy